Through the Seasons
by Aizaki
Summary: Rin and Len are lovers poor in money but rich in love, living through the seasons of their lives together and content with each other. This year's season seems no different...but of course, then, what type of story would that be? Warning: It's a tragedy for a reason, make sure to bring tissues for the last three chapters.
1. Chapter 1- Winter, The First Season

A/N: I AM going to finish this story...I AM going to finish this story...! Eventually...~ Anyway, Rin and len came out with a new song called Seasonal Feathers/ Feathers through the Season and so naturally, I had to write my own view of it... so~

Also, I just finished typing up a fanfiction for Woody Allen's: Don't Drink the Water and a 3 page creative essay so sorry if it seems kinda short...I'm still not sure which route I want to start this story on. So, anyway, thanks for all the feedback on The Author as well you guys, like, you don't understand how much I really appreciate it~ And if you could do the same on this story then I'd appreciate it just as much.

Feathers Through the Seasons:

Chapter 1- Winter, The First Season

With cold, numb fingers she drew back the slightly torn door, her body shuddering alongside the shaky door. Then slowly, she stepped up into the old, abandoned home and pushed the door back to its original position- thankfully she didn't have shoes to mess with.

She felt her toes curl under the hard floor and sighed, her breath becoming a misty wisp in the air. _"Len..."_

Blue eyes scoured the immediate darkness, slowly adjusting from the winter sun's glare she'd been looking at only moments ago but immediately catching and focusing on the small flame in the center hearth of the room.

The blonde woman picked up her over-layered, mismatched skirts covering her knobby knees and made her way towards the hearth, murmuring softly, "You finally managed to light a match..." With practiced grace, the woman floated down to the floor and rested her knees underneath herself while sliding her bitter cold hands towards the slowly growing flame.

"Of course, I told you I wouldn't, didn't I?" She was so enamored with the heat and light radiating from the hearth that she didn't even realize how close he is until she feels his large arms encompass her waist and the point of his chin is on her head. "I'm not a useless husband yet, my dear." He murmured in reply, a small smile gracing his features as the petite woman simply buried her flushed face into his dark grey sleeves.

"You know I didn't mean that..." Her soft voice was muffled from the fabric, and the small sigh she gave after was barely heard as the blonde nuzzled her face against Len's covered chest when his large hands brushed through the loose strands of her pulled back hair.

"I know, sweetheart, but you did when we first met, remember? You were just as cold as you are now."

An unneeded apology falls from behind her purplish lips followed by a sigh.

"Please don't apologize my Rin, it doesn't suit you well." His lips press themselves against her exposed temple, hands slowly unwinding the painfully tight bun he knows she's tried to not to undo and his own blue eyes closing in contentment.

"Len-"

"I know...shush..."

The rest of that night was spent by the fire, the two lovers huddling together in the only light in the old home and the comfortable silence between them the only thing they need.

_If only that comfort would've lasted..._


	2. Chapter 2- Spring, The Second Season

Through the Seasons- Chapter 2: Spring, The Second Season

When he wakes, the sun hasn't even broken over the mountains, and yet, she's already up and dressing herself in her old, cherry pink yukata with excited, shaking hands by the only light- a lit lamp- in the room.

She glances over at him and offers a soft, whimsical sort of smile before slowly getting to her knees, padding over to his side, and reaching over to gently brush his mess of tangled hair from his face like a mother would to a small child. With tired ears, he hears her faint voice say, "It's finally blooming." It's all he needs to hear to force his body fully awake, the early morning light now streaming in through the windows and open door which she- in her excitement- has left open.

By the time he's finally functioning and dressed rather casually, he finds her standing by the old, once thought to be dead- and now blooming- sakura tree overhanging at the entrance to their home and feeding the stale bread they'd had to the small swallows gathering at her bare feet- he'd probably have to remind her to wash before she walks back in...

For now, he sits at the small home's entrance and busies himself with tying the wheat they'd brought in from the fields yesterday into large bundles; despite everyone else in the small village celebrating, there was still work to be done that couldn't be ignored- unless you were _her_.

As he's finishing his fourth of fifth bundle, her melodic song reaches his ears, and- at first- he actually assumes it's one of the birds singing their song until he can actually hear the words forming and rolling off her tongue,

_"Though the winter was cold and barren, do not let your heart become and stay so..."*_

He smiles gently as her song continues, it's not the first time he's heard it, after all.

_She's washing the slightly broken plates in the sink when he first hears it and asks her about it,_

_Her small shoulders lift into a small shrug and she continues washing as she replies, "My mother and father use to sing it to each other when the blossoms bloomed...I just thought it sounded nice, don't you?"_

When the bread is gone and her song as temporarily ended, Len finds his hands reaching for wheat that is no longer there beside him and out of his peripheral he notices the swarm of birds taking flight back to the safety of the swaying branches.

Like a whisper, the petite woman floats over to him and sits, delicately holding her hands in her lap until her lover moves them in order to rest his head on her lap.

She sighs and pushes her bangs behind her small ears before reaching down to do the same to her husband, "You're worse than a child, you know that?"

"Of course, dear, but, just think, I'm the only child you've managed put up with for this long..."

He glances up to see the smallest smile playing on her lips before slowly closing his eyes against the shining sun.

Together they sit- or lay there, in Len's case- under the awning of their one room home, listening to wind chimes gently singing in the breeze as the delicate cherry blossoms fall, gently swaying to the ground.

Then softly, he hears her begin to hum again with the chimes, moving her stomach every time she takes a breath to begin a new phrase.

"You have such a beautiful voice..." He murmurs, blue eyes looking up from her lap to watch his lover's bright, calm face as she continues to hum softly, pausing only when his words worked their way to her ears.

This season always did bring out the best in her...

He watches as her pink lips purse together in thought and, after a few moments of silence, she looks right back down at him and speaks, "If I ever lost this voice, would you still love me?"

Though she's asked the question many times, his answer is still the same- _it'll always be the same,_ "Of course, my dear." His smile is gentle as he raises one of his large hands and gently places it on her left cheek, thumbing over the smooth, slowly flustering skin.

She closes her eyes in complete content and sighs quietly, _"I love you...always"_

Neither of them, in their moment, notice the crane landing to sweep up the last crumbs of fallen bread before taking off once more into the midday sun, it's bloody feathers weighing it down close to the Earth until its broken wings can last no longer.

That night, the wolves of the mountain ate, leaving on scraps of bone and feathers on the ground.

_~Chapter 2 Fin.~_

A/N: Fun fact: you can now find this story on wattpad. com! So please go check it out if you would be so kind~ Also, that little asterisk in the story?

Yeah, came up with that lil lyric/poem bit in like, 5 seconds so. ._.~


	3. Chapter 3- Summer, The Third Season

A/N: So this is the chapter that starts it all...prepare your tissues towards the end my friends...unless you don't cry and instead get dirt and dust in your eye- I don't know your life story so...uh..

Anyway, you guys wouldn't believe the research I did for this chapter, and yet, I'm still kinda bullshitting some bits oTL So yeah, anyway, not sure if you guys even like this story but I'm finishing it anyway! :D And now onto your planned reading~

Through the Seasons: Chapter 3- Summer, The Third Season

After dinner that night, she knew something was going on with her own body. Yet, not wanting to worry him, she'd ignored the pain in her stomach and carried on like she normally would.

But when she jumps awake from her dreamless sleep, there's no denying it; her stomach is rolling and the back of her throat burns, accompanied by the taste of bile and salt. She tries to swallow it back, grimacing as the awful taste only spreads through her mouth.

Her stomach rolls again and it takes every fiber of her self-control to not just jolt off to the toilet and wake him; she instead quietly moves his arm off of her waist and shimmies her way from underneath the light sheets, making sure she's nowhere near his quiet, deep sleeping form before racing towards the toilet- only managing to make it to the kitchen sink and barely having time to turn on the water before her venting begins.

When Rin's finally done, she gasps for air- still trying to be quiet- and begins the task of washing down the sink and ridding her mouth of the awful taste she can still feel working its way down her burning throat.

This isn't normally...even for her this time of the year- she'd been prone in past years to dehydrate in the sun and induce an episode similar to this. But this was...different.

Shaking her head with a small scowl on her face, the finishes cleaning and- after hearing the sheets rustle slightly- returns to bed, only to lie down and stare at her husband's bare back, knowing she won't be able to sleep now.

_There are too many thoughts and questions running through her mind..._

"Rin, dear..." She wakes to his breath in her ear and one of his hands trying to gently wake her by jostling her shoulder.

"Hm?" Even something as simple as that burns and claws at her throat, and it's all she can do to not wince in pain. He still notices...he always seems to notice.

"Are you alright? I can take care of everything today if you're not feeling well." She flushes pink despite herself as the back of one of his cold hands meets with her forehead.

This time, she clears her throat before replying, "No no, I'm fine." The small blonde sits up from their bed and gently brushes her lips over his cheek before she stands and walks off to get dressed for the day. "I'll be out in a moment." She calls over her shoulder, "Go on and start without me."

Thankfully, by the time Rin's actually up and preparing the field's ground for both planting and harvesting, her stomach and throat have seemed to finally settle. At least now, she won't have to try and explain herself if it happened again...

Everything was as it should've been...

* * *

It wasn't until later that week when things changed.

Like usual, the two woke up, ate together, dressed and went out to work until the sun began to set over the mountains.

And, as their schedule and weather dictated, Len was sloshing through the watery muck, harvesting the rice by hand while Rin tilled the rocky soil in preparation to plant the wheat seeds she currently had in a small bowl by her feet.

She glances up for a moment when he starts coughing, tucking her bangs back underneath her hat out of sheer habit before continuing down the somewhat straight row to individually plant the seeds.

The small woman listens to his desperate coughing and just as she's about to look up again and make sure her lover is alright, he's collapsing into the shallow water.

"Len!" Without a second's hesitation, she drops the bowl- scattering now useless seeds across the untilled ground as she races towards him.

Quickly, she kneels down beside him, draws his face from the murky waters and pulls him towards her chest despite the fact that he's still coughing and staining her chest a bloody red, her desperate screeching and wailing voice echoing through the otherwise peaceful air, "Help! Please, someone help!"

XxXxXxXxX

She couldn't take it anymore, her nerves were officially fried.

Oh she knew she should've been in there with him, staying by his side as he was poked and prodded and questioned between his chest rattling, blood soaked coughing.

It had been nearly an hour already and-

"Mrs. Kagamine?" The man's croaky voice pulls her out of her thoughts and she's quick to turn and bow politely as the old, greying man scuffles out of the home and shuts the door, "May I speak with you for a moment?"

Her voice has left her stranded for the moment and she just barely manages to make herself nod, clenching her hands nervously into the fabric of her skirts as his eyebrows furrow and his eyes narrow behind his large, cracked frames.

"You see...your husband, Mrs. Kagamine,"

_He's stalling...trying not to tell her while she's trying to not listen..._

His jumble of hesitant and scholarly words barely make any sense in her confused head, and she barely manages to catch a few words rambling from his mouth.

He won't last...severe pain...thousands of dollars...leaving...

She swallows hard as he finishes and replies, "So he's dying...and there's nothing I can do for him..." She wants to shove him away, to punch him until he tells her it's a lie, she wants to sob and scream and run away with Len to some paradise where they won't have to live like this and deal with all these issues!

But she can't...all she can do- he says- is make him comfortable, because in the next three months _Len__'s going to die._

"If would like any help sorting out the burial arrangements, please feel free to come to see and meet with me. I'm sure we could work something out for him." As the old man's back turns to her, she bites her lip, blinking back her tears and attempting to calm her hiccuping breaths before she makes her way back into the house.

Then slowly, she kneels down next to his sweat covered forehead and brushes his hair off of the hot skin before murmuring softly, "He said to take it easy for a few days and that tea would help with your throat..."

Her voice wavers as she feels him shudder in her grasp and grip at her arm as his body desperately heaves and he turns his head as another coughing fit hits him. She's having to bite her cheek to keep in her sobs, her shaking fingers weaving through his hair almost frantically as she whispers, "Shh, it'll be alright, you're going to be alright..."

Though they both know the truth, she can see it in his slitted, fear-filled eyes. With some difficulty, he reaches down to reassuringly squeeze her hand- a small smile playing on his bloodied lips as she squeezes back.

_'Stay with me...'_

"Don't worry, I'm here..."

_Until the very end._

A/N: So, I'm finishing this at 2:35 AM...and I started at 7PM ._. Meh, I may rewrite part of this once the story is finished...but who knows.

I hope I didn't make any of you all cry too much- I at least know I did while writing that last little bit...but of course, that might be because I need sleep and haven't blinked in about an hour... oTL

Please don't forget to leave a review or comment as that lets me know you guys don't hate this story~! ^^ Thank ya~!


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